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Medical Records Snooping

By Prudence, on April 2nd, 2011

No one has been much concerned about the National Health Information database, which if I’m not mistaken was authorized and preliminarily funded under the stimulus boondoggle, long before ObamaCare passed. This database will require all citizens to have their medical records kept in a national database, supposedly to eliminate medical error, and doctors will be asked to submit their diagnoses to the database for guidance and comparison of treatments.

Sounds so wonderful to many. Sounds horrific to me. No record in a national database is secure from prying eyes. And it’s already begun, even before the database has been implemented.

Senator Scott Brown’s insurance company notified him that political opponents have been seeking medical information on him and his family members. According to the Boston Herald:

Officials from the Group Insurance Commission, the state’s health insurance provider, notified Brown on Tuesday that the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee asked them “to provide insurance information,” according to a copy of the GIC letter obtained by the Herald.

The DSCC wanted to obtain “all direct correspondence” that the Senator had with the insurance provider. The paper said:

A DSCC spokesman insisted the request was only for public information and never sought private medical information about the Brown family.

The paper could not get a comment from the commission, but it said:

…a letter sent by the agency to Brown’s lawyer Tuesday warns “some or all of the material requested may constitute ‘personal data.’ ”

Imagine if the DSCC didn’t have to go through any persnickety commission to dig dirt on their opponents. Suppose they could just have friends at the national health database do a little wikileaking of their own.

I, for one, do not want my medical records stored anywhere but my doctor’s office (and yes, I know they are already spread far and wide through the insurance, hospital, and pharmacy systems—but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel very uncomfortable with that).

Let’s make a deal. Obama has refused to release any of his records: school, medical and the infamous long-form birth. Clinton fought to keep his medical records private. Any medical database needs to be inaugurated with the medical records of Obama, Clinton, their families, their staffs, and all of Congress and its staffers first.

We don’t have to worry about whether those records could be held securely one year or five years. They would never be held because our rulers would never subject themselves to the same potential invasion of privacy they wish us to submit to.

If that were the stipulation, the entire project would instantly die.

In the meantime, think about whether the DSCC has only sought access to Brown’s records. You think he’s the only politician they would love to get damaging or embarrassing information on? Just how many insurance companies never bothered to notify their clients and sent the requested information right on to the DSCC?

It’s simply disgusting. So much for medical “privacy.” Combine such a database with politicians such as Michelle Obama and Michael Bloomberg who believe they have the right to dictate your health behaviors to you, and we have a nightmare approaching.